Ioannis Kymissis Elected to the National Academy of Inventors

Columbia Engineering’s Ioannis (John) Kymissis, the Kenneth Brayer Professor of Electrical Engineering and vice dean of Infrastructure and Innovation at Columbia Engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) 2024 Class of Fellows. This prestigious recognition honors Kymissis for his groundbreaking contributions to thin-film electronics for displays and sensors, which have advanced innovation, economic development, and societal welfare.

Kymissis’s research centers on the processing, integration, and application of thin-film electronics. His work has yielded transformative advancements in areas such as piezoelectric polymers for pressure sensing, microphones, and energy harvesting; printed devices for chemical classification and radiation detection; and co-integrated piezoelectric thin films for radio frequency filtering, vapor sensing, and infrared radiation detection. His efforts in the display field have focused on the development of innovative backplanes and integration strategies for OLED, QDLED, and microLED displays, with significant industry adoption of his lab’s technologies.

As director of Columbia’s Laboratory for Unconventional Electronics (CLUE), Kymissis has guided several technologies from concept to commercial deployment, including ventures such as Chromation, Lumiode, and Radiator Labs. His dedication to fostering student innovation is evident in his role as co-director of the Columbia Makerspace and his receipt of the 2019 Edward and Carole Kim Faculty Involvement Award.

This recognition by the NAI joins a distinguished list of accolades Kymissis has garnered throughout his career, including election as an IEEE Fellow, a Vodafone Americas Foundation Wireless Innovation Award, and the MIT Clean Energy Prize. He has also been named a Fellow of the Society for Information Display and selected for the Defense Science Study Group.

Kymissis earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He will be formally inducted as an NAI Fellow at the 14th NAI Annual Conference, which will take place from June 23-26, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia.

With this election, Kymissis joins an elite group of innovators whose prolific contributions continue to redefine the boundaries of technology and its applications. His achievements exemplify Columbia Engineering’s commitment to fostering research and innovation that addresses critical global challenges.